Closure having high load bearing characteristics



' Feb. 25, 1969 A. GROSSMAN 3,429,075

CLOSURE HAVING HIGH LOAD BEARING CHARACTERISTICS Filed NOV. 28. 1966'IIIIIIII,

35 H 50 I lNVENTOR 5@ 56 I ABRZ /fM GROSSMA/V MAHONEY 8c HORNE/4x52United States Patent 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The closure ofthe invention is characterized by the fact that it incorporates on thesliding sash a monumental inner stile which acts as a rigidifying memberto enable the closure to carry loads which it could not ordinarily carrybecause of the relatively small cross section of the extrusions of theframe and the extrusions constituting the remaining components of thesliding sash.

This invention relates to an improved closure having high load bearingcharacteristics and, more particularly, to a closure such as a window,incorporating a plurality of sash, one of which incorporates a loadbearing member adapted to sustain wind and similar loads to which saidsash are subjected more effectively than has been previously possible inprior closures incorporating sash of the same overall dimensions asthose disclosed herein.

The invention of the present application is an improvement of theclosure disclosed and claimed in U.S. Letters Patent No. 3,208,111,granted Sept. 28, 1965, and entitled, Closure With LongitudinallyMovable Sash. As disclosed in Letters Patent No. 3,208,111, the form ofclosure herein involved includes a frame mounting a pair of sash, one ofsaid sash being an outer stationary sash and the other of said sashbeing an inner, longitudinally movable sash. Furthermore, when saidmovable sash is in frame closing position, one stile of said inner sashis positioned inwardly adjacent and mates with the contiguous stile ofsaid outer sash so that one stile of said inner sash is disposed insupportive relationship with said contiguous sash of said outer stile.

In the closure of the aforesaid patent, the one stile of the inner sashand the contiguous stile of the outer sash are of identical depth ofcross-sectional and load bearing capacity. Consequently, the closureincorporating said sash was restricted to sizes such as thosecustomarily utilized in residential applications because it could notsustain the loads encountered in larger sizes required for commercialapplications.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a new and novelclosure incorporating an inner sash having a mating stile constituted bya massive, load bearing member spaced inwardly from said frame andpresenting an inward face spaced exteriorly of the inner perimeter ofsaid frame. Because of the provision of said load bearing member servingthe function of a mating inner stile, it has not been necessary togreatly increase the overall cross-sectional dimensions of the othersash elements of the outer sash, thereby achieving substantial costsavings over conventional closures capable of supporting comparableloads and permitting the use of the same frame members as used in thedomestic sash. The load bearing interlocking inner sash stile is anintegral rectangular tube as opposed to the use of reinforcing fins inconventional construction to accomplish load bearing resistance whichappear as architecturally unsightly appendages to the interlocking sashstile.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a closure of theaforementioned character wherein said massive tubular load bearing stileincorporates a first portion which lies wholly within the associatedframe and 3,429,075 Patented Feb. 25, 1969 has its upper and lowerextremities terminating, respectively, within the head and sill of saidframe, and a second massive load bearing portion which has its upper andlower extremities terminating, respectively, below and above said headand sill and which projects beyond the inner perimeters of said head andsill.

An additional object of my invention is the provision of a closure ofthe aforementioned character in which said load bearing stile isconstituted by a unitary member of hollow cross-sectional configurationand where said second portion thereof projecting beyond the perimeter ofsaid frame is consequently hollow to impart the maximum load bearingcross section to said portion.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a closure of theaforementioned character in which said massive load bearing stile,rather than detracting from the overall appearance of said closure,imparts thereto a monumental massive and aesthetically pleasing effect.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawing which is for thepurpose of illustration only, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an inside elevational view of a closure incorporating theimproved high load bearing characteristics of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view taken along thebroken line 2-2 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view taken along the brokenline 3-3 in FIG. 1.

As hereinbefore stated, the closure with high load hearingcharacteristics of the present invention constitutes an improvement inthe closure construction set forth in the prior patent, No. 3,208,111,and has been incorporated in said prior construction. For this reason,the details of the overall closure are'only briefly described herein tothe extent necessary to understand the overall working relationshipbetween the frame, the stationary sash and the longitudinally movablesash, with said prior patent being referred to for a more completedescription of said closure. There are certain structural changes in theclosure and sash shown herein from those of said prior patent which arenot of importance to the improvements of the present invention, but theoverall construction and operation of the closure shown herein will beclear from a complete understanding of said prior patent.

Referring to the drawing hereof, a closure, generally indicated at 10,is generally rectangular in inward and outward appearance and includes aframe 12 having a header 14, a sill 16 and longitudinally spaced, sidejambs 18, said jambs maintaining the header and sill in operative andspaced relationship in the usual manner. Furthermore, the header, silland jambs 14, 16 and 18 co-operate to forwardly and rearwardly dividethe frame 12 into a pair of upper tracks 20 and 22, a pair of lowertracks 24 and 26 Viewing the closure 10 from the inner side, as shown inFIG. 1, the lower side of FIG. 2 and the right-hand side of FIG. 3, astationary outer sash 32 is mounted in said frame within the upper andlower tracks 20 and 24 extending longitudinally of said frame and beingsecured intermediate thereof by a tie bar 34. The stationary outer sash32 includes upper and lower rails 36 and 38 maintained in operative andspaced relationship by longitudinally spaced stiles 40 and 42, saidrails and stiles appropriately enclosing a glass pane 44.

A longitudinally movable inner sash 46 is received at the right-handside of the frame 12, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, within the upper andlower tracks 22 and 26. The movable inner sash 46 includes a glass pane47 appropriately enclosed by upper and lower rails 48 and 50, a stile 52normally at the jamb 18 and a mating stile 54 normally intermediate theframe 12 and preferably inwardly overlying and covering the overallmating stile of the stationary outer sash 32 formed by the tie bar 34and stile 42. The movable inner sash 46 is mounted in the frame lowertrack 26 for longitudinal movement relative to said frame and saidstationary outer sash 32 by means of a carriage 56 supported onappropriate rollers 58, again more clearly described in said priorpatent, No. 3,208,111.

A resilient bumper 60 may be mounted on the frame jamb 18 for abutmentby the stile 52 of the movable inner sash 46 when said sash is movedlongitudinally of the frame into fully closed position, as shown in FIG.2. In addition, the stile 40 may be provided with a flange 62 projectingfrom said stile inward of the frame 12 for hand engagement in order toaugment the longitudinal movement of the movable inner sash 46 in thedirection toward its fully closed position. Furthermore, a spring biasedbolt 64 of the latch 66 mounted on the mating stile 54 is adapted forengagement in a keeper 68 of the mating stile on the stationary outersash 32.

The mating stile 54 of the movable inner sash 46 is preferably anelongated hollow extrusion having a stile portion 69 within the frame 12and a relatively massive, load bearing and reinforcing portion 70projecting inwardly of the frame and presenting an inward face 71 spacedexteriorly of said frame. Due to the hollow configuration of the stile54, upper and lower ends 72 and 74 thereof are open ends located justshort of and with sliding clearance relative to the frame header 14 andsill 16, and due to the generally rectangular, cross-sectionalconfiguration of said stile, said face 71 is a generally rectangularface. Still further, the longitudinal extension of the stile 54 is suchthat, as hereinbefore stated, said stile 54 virtually completelyoverlaps and inwardly covers the mating stile of the stationary outersash 32 formed by the combined tie bar 34 and stile 42 so that when themovable inner sash 46 is in said closed position, the only thing that isinwardly apparent at the intermediate location of the frame 12 is thegenerally rectangular face on the reinforcing portion 70 of the stile54.

With the particular construction of the mating stile 54 of the movableinner sash 46, due to the increased massiveness created particularly bythe reinforcing portion 70, as well as the hollow configuration of atleast said reinforcing portion and preferably also the major part of thestile portion 69, extreme vertical rigidity is provided for the sashes32 and 46 which will resist relatively high wind forces against saidsash sufficient for commercial applications. Furthermore, it will benoted that such increased strength and rigidity has been provided by theunique formation of the hollow mating stile 54 of the movable inner sash46, with only a very slight increase in stile longitudinal dimensions sothat the same frame 12 may be used for both domestic and commercialclosures, despite the fact that the commercial closures will include theunique stile construction of the present invention for the provision ofthe necessary increased vertical rigidity and wind strength.

Still further, the massiveness of the hollow, load bearing stile 54,rather than detracting from the overall appearance of the closure 10,imparts thereto an aesthetically pleasing effect. The open upper andlower ends 72 and 74 of the stile 54, although said ends projectpartially exteriorly of the frame 12, are not apparent inwardly of theclosure 10, since such open ends are not in the normal line of vision inthe usual positioning of the closure.

I claim:

1. In a closure, the combination of: a frame including a header and asill maintained in operative and spaced relationship by jambs connectedbetween opposite extremities thereof, upper and lower track meansincorporated respectively in said header and sill; a sash includingupper and lower rails maintained in operative and spaced re lationshipby stiles connected between opposite ends thereof; means operativelymounting said sash in said frame track for selective longitudinalmovement within and relative to said frame; and at least one of saidsash stiles having a reinforcing portion projecting through and fromsaid frame presenting a generally rectangular face spaced exteriorly ofsaid frame, said stile face extending the length of said stile betweensaid rails, said stile face having its upper and lower ends terminatingimmediately adjacent, respectively, to the header and sill of said frameand having upper and lower reduced extremities disposed within saidheader and said sill for securement to said rails.

2. A closure as defined in claim 1 in which said reinforcing portion ofsaid one sash stile is hollow throughout the length thereof between saidrails.

3. A closure as defined in claim 1 in which said reinforcing portion ofsaid one stile is hollow throughout the length thereof between saidrails, said one stile having open ends adjacent said rails openingpartially exteriorly of said frame.

4. In a closure, the combination of: a frame including a header and asill maintained in operative and spaced relationship by jambs connectedbetween opposite extremities thereof, upper and lower track meansincorporated respectively in said header and sill; a pair of sash, eachof said sash including upper and lower rails maintained in operative andspaced relationship by stiles connected between opposite ends thereof,said sash being mounted in and extending longitudinally of said framewith one of said sash in an inner frame part and the other of said sashin an outer frame part, said inner and outer sash having normally matingstiles longitudinally intermediate said frame; means operativelymounting at least said inner sash in said frame track means forselective longitudinal movement within and relative to said frame; andsaid mating stile of said inner sash having a reinforcing portionprojecting through and from said frame and presenting a face spacedexteriorly of said frame, said stile face extending lengthwise of saidstile between said frame, said stile being lengthwise hollow and havingopen upper and lower ends opening partially exteriorly of said frame,said stile face having its upper and lower ends terminating immediatelyadjacent, respectively, to the header and sill of said frame and havingupper and lower reduced extremities disposed within said header and saidsill for securement of said rails.

5. A closure as defined in claim 4 in which said face of said matingstile reinforcing portion is a generally rectangular face spacedexteriorly of said frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1957 Beamer 49-501 X 9/1965Grossman 49-425 US. Cl. X.R. 49-501

